Acting On FilmLet the Soap Opera begin…

Film Acting - vs – Theatre Acting With the advent of film in the early twentieth

century, and in particular with the introduction of sound in the late '20s, there was a need for a new kind of acting style from that which had dominated the stage and the theater for centuries. Thus was born the art of film acting, a demanding and innovative discipline that has now been around for almost a century. Here are four of the main differences between stage and film acting:

Shooting out of sequence… Unlike the theater actor, who gets to

develop a character during the course of a two- or three-hour performance, the film actor lacks continuity, forcing him or her to come to all the scenes (often shot in reverse order in which they'll ultimately appear) with a character already fully developed.

Smaller gestures. Since film captures even the smallest

gesture and magnifies it 20 or 30 times, cinema demands a less flamboyant and stylized bodily performance from the actor than does the theater.

A friendlier stage… The stage is more friendly to the

unattractive, the overweight, and the flawed, while film—despite the advantages of makeup, lighting, soft focus, etc.—is relentlessly cruel to any sign of imperfection in the actor or actress.

Emotional difficulties… The performance of emotion is the most

difficult aspect of film acting to master: While the theater actor can use exaggerated gestures and exclamations to express emotion, the film actor must rely on subtle facial ticks, quivers, and tiny lifts of the eyebrow to create a believable character.

The demands… In short, film demands a fundamentally

different kind of performance work from its actors than does the stage; as D. W. Griffith himself put it, the stage actor projects an emotion or a character to an audience, whereas a film actor must in some way embody and perform these emotions in as true and believable a way as possible.

The transition… Though some have made the theater-to-

cinema transition quite successfully (Olivier, Glenn Close, and Julie Andrews, for instance), others have not, and there are many examples of silent stars who fell off the movie planet after sound was introduced. They just weren't able to compete with the bell-voiced theater actors who instantly flooded the studios.

What is a Soap Opera? By definition, soap operas are ongoing works

of fiction, and episodic in nature. In laymen’s terms, soaps are stories told over an extended period, with different characters being featured at different times. It is rare in soaps to have a quick wrap-up of a storyline, and it is even rarer for a story to affect only one or two characters. Most often, a storyline affects several characters, and possibly interconnects with other stories.

Why keep watching? Perhaps the most common trait of a

soap opera is that each episode ends with a promise for more drama the following day, rather than a neat tie-up of that episode’s story, as you’d find with sitcoms or other dramas.

Why’s it called a Soap Opera?

When soap operas began, they were first broadcast on the radio. Called “dramatic serials,” soap manufacturers such as Procter and Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, and Lever Brothers were the show’s sponsors. In time, the name “soap opera” came to be and has remained ever since.

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How are they different from other TV shows? Soap operas tend to focus their plots

and storylines around family life, personal and relationships, emotional and moral conflicts and sometimes newsworthy issues such as rape, teen drinking, drug abuse, adoption, illness, addiction and more.

They do what? In addition, you’ll find soap staples such

as missing siblings, mystery parents, death (and resurrection), adultery, betrayal, and, yes, even demonic possession. You’ll also find actors and actresses who are generally more attractive and well dressed than in other mediums, and who are almost certainly more alluring than the show’s viewers.

Prime Time Soaps During the 1980s, primetime serials were a large

part of television viewing. Shows such as Dallas, Knots Landing, Dynasty, and Falcon Crest all aired to adoring fans. These shows tended to focus more on business conflicts and wealthy families. Their sets were extravagant and the actors dressed to the hilt. When filmed on location, viewers could count on beautiful locales to lure them in.

Today, prime time soaps including Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty and ER are equally as alluring, but much less flashy.

Odds and Ends Soap actors are some of the most skilled actors, as the

amount of material they need to memorize and the hours they spend on camera are relentless. Shooting a soap opera often requires plenty of improvisation and quick thinking by the actors. In addition, blocking (the way an actor faces a camera) is slightly unconventional and is contrary to how humans would normally interact. Because their faces are often shown close-up to reveal the emotions relevant to the story, actors may have to tilt their bodies in an unnatural manner, which can be rather challenging.

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The TAG… The ending of a scene in which an actor

is shown delivering a staggering line or leaving us with a telltale expressive face is called a “tag.” In the industry, a soap actor is proud when he or she is awarded with a tag.

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Worse Soap Plot Lines of all time. 10: 10. Death by Bear. Animal guest appearances

aren't just limited to primates. On The Bold and the Beautiful, Pamela was just about to shoot her rival, Donna, in a remote cabin the woods. Donna is all set to escape when she notices a bear lurking outside and decides her chances are better with Pamela. Pamela knocks Donna out, and when Donna comes to, she's covered in honey and tied to a chair: Pamela has decided to entice the bear into eating her. Unfortunately, the plan didn't work and the carnivorous Winnie-the-Pooh didn't get his snack.

# 9 9. Gorilla Kidnapping. Apparently the

appearance of apes and gorillas on soap operas is more common than you might think. On the now-defunct Ryan's Hope, Delia Reid Coleridge was once kidnapped by a lusty gorilla. Man, if I had a nickel for every time that happened to me...

# 8 8. A mystery island full of missing

people presumed to be dead. We travel back to Salem for this crazy plot, which, of course, involves Marlena again. After Marlena is revealed to be the fearer Salem Stalker - a serial killer who had taken several victims - she "dies," but actually �finds herself on an island that looks exactly like Salem, populated with all of the supposed Salem Stalker victims. Turns out that Tony DiMera faked everyone's deaths because he wanted to split up all of the great couples of Salem. That's a pretty elaborate scheme just to break some people up!

# 7 7. Killer clones. Reva on Guiding Light

was cloned after her husband thought she died in a plane crash. It turned out that she hadn't died, though, and when Reva tried to return to her life, her clone tried to kill her. Sigh. Don't you hate when that happens?

# 6 6. Precious, the obsessive orangutan nurse. In the

offbeat town of Harmony we have a a place where it's perfectly acceptable to hire an orangutan when you can't afford a human caregiver for your ailing mother. I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. Not only did Precious take care of the elderly, she also developed a crush on a human character named Luis. Alas, Luis didn't return Precious' love and when Precious left town in 2005, she took pictures of Luis with her and released it out the window of the train she was riding to prove that the Luis chapter of her life had closed. How dramatic! The Passions crew thought the performance was Emmy-worthy and tried to nominate the primate for an award; however, the Academy responded that the award was intended for humans only.

# 5 5. Timmy, the doll that came to life. It's kind of hard to

know where to start with Passions - the whole thing was a bit ridiculous - but Timmy the doll is a good start. Timmy, of course, is the companion of Tabitha the witch. He helped her sink the Titanic, among many other great disasters. One year, he wished upon a star to be a real boy, just like Pinocchio, but with somewhat different results. When his wish came true, Tabitha claimed the living doll was her nephew and the two of them continued to wreak havoc on the town of Harmony until one of their evil plots backfired, killing Timmy. Don't worry - he was replaced by another doll named Cracked Connie and her boyfriend, Demented Cecil. Totally everyday stuff, you know?

#4 4. Time travel to 1888. In 1988, Clint

from One Life to Live had an accident in the desert. When he woke up, he found himself in the old West town of Buchanan City. Viki (Erika Slezak) had to follow his time-traveling footsteps to get him to make the leap home again. And thank God she did - he was just about to marry one of his ancestors. Ew.

#3 3. It was all a dream... a dog's

dream. See, it's not just American soaps that are ridiculous. In the Australian soap Neighbours (very popular in the U.K.), camera time was actually dedicated to a segment where Bouncer, a lovable labrador retriever, fell asleep and had a dream that he married the dog next door. So... yeah.

#2 2. Marlena is possessed by the Devil. I remember

this one, because I was in junior high and had all summer to immerse myself in the Days of our Lives town of Salem. Sad, I know. Marlena has been through all kinds of turmoil, but this is my favorite. Her constant and unwanted suitor, Stefano DiMera, drugged Marlena night after night so he could do as he pleased with her. This apparently left her open to demon possession, and before long, Marlena was levitating and threatening to kill her friends and family. Luckily, John Black "remembered" that he had been ordained as a priest, �performed an exorcism, and sent the Devil back to the netherworld. Whew.

And the #1 most Bizarre Plot goes to…

1. Luke and Laura save the world from being frozen. So, this evil Greek billionaire named Mikkos is looking for a diamond called The Ice Princess, and as luck would have it, so is Luke. It turns out that the only reason Mikkos wants the rock is to (insert Dr. Evil pinkie here) take over the world, and to show he means business, he uses a machine to make a blizzard randomly appear in Port Charles. If his demands aren't met, Mikkos plans on plunging the entire world into an ice age. Luckily, Luke and Laura manage to turn off the machine and kill Mikkos. However, Mikkos' widow - Elizabeth Taylor, of course

- shows up at Luke and Laura's wedding and places a curse on them for killing her husband. Those crazy kids!